Seven-Year-Old Golf Prodigy Drives Hard Toward Success
Seven-year-old Jerrell Anthony mid swing on the driving range at Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Oxmoor Valley.
At just seven years-old, Jerrell Anthony already drives a golf ball more than 100 yards. The golf prodigy from Hoover has won several tournaments, sometimes playing against kids twice his age. Jerrell is in Pinehurst, North Carolina, this week competing with more than 1,400 children ages 12 and under in the World Championship kids golf tournament.
We meet Jerrell at a practice before competition at the Oxmoor Valley course in Birmingham. He’s by far the best dressed golfer on this hot afternoon. It’s important to look the part, even when you play as well as he does. In his silky red polo shirt, black cargo shorts and sparkling white Ricky Fowler golf shoes, Jerrell explains the most important tools of the trade: his golf clubs.
Jerrell plays several sports. Funny enough, golf isn’t even his favorite; it’s basketball. Jerrell’s love for golf started when he was a toddler.
Caprenia Anthony
Jerrell Anthony at about 18 months-old with his little set of golf clubs. His parents knew he was destined for golf greatness.
“The first time that I saw my dad playing on the golf course,” Jerrell says. “I saw him when I was two years-old.”
His dad, Curtis Anthony, would take him to the golf course and Jerrell would hit balls off a tee with a set of little plastic golf clubs. That’s when Curtis first noticed his son’s talent. Now, the second-grader has a set of professional golf clubs and competes against kids twice his age. Jerrell’s coaches say he’s everything an instructor could dream of.
Chip Thomas is Jerrell’s private coach. He says Jerrell is special. He’s so special, that Thomas stepped away from his wife and new-born baby – with her blessing – to train Jerrell for the tournament in Pinehurst.
Jerrell isn’t shy about disagreeing with Thomas, who says that’s a good thing.
“I want someone to have a little stubbornness, a little idea of their own on what to do,” he says. “And so, then you’re more of a consultant. You’re more of guiding them towards the target as opposed to teaching them. You know, you teach a baby, but you coach an adult.”
Esther Ciammachilli,WBHM
Jerrell and his private coach, Chip Thomas.
Thomas is African American, and this is important. Jerrell is also black, and noticed early on there aren’t a lot of professional golfers that look like him. Curtis says people are constantly comparing his son to Tiger Woods, the most recognizable black golfer. But Jerrell is too young to have seen him play. That’s when Curtis decided it was time to unleash the Tiger … through YouTube.
“He sees Tiger Woods for 15 minutes, and now he’s one of his favorite golfers,” he says. “And I know it has something to do because he looks like him.”
Curtis says he and his wife, Caprenia, are trying to instill an entrepreneurial spirit in their son through golf that will hopefully stay with him as he grows. With the help of his parents, Jerrell has created a brand, JA Golfer, through which he sells golf apparel.
“That’s what I’m most proud of and most excited about because his little light goes off every time he makes a sale,” Curtis says. “We practice business words like inventory, profit. So that’s the part I’m excited about.”
But most importantly, Curtis and Caprenia are teaching Jerrell to have fun and be a kid. After all, he is still only seven.
Chilean Smiljan Radić Clarke wins architecture’s highest honor
The Pritzker Prize was awarded Thursday. "In every work, he is able to answer with radical originality, making the unobvious obvious," said fellow Chilean architect and prize chair Alejandro Aravena.
El Niño is set to take hold this summer, driving up global temperatures
A potentially strong El Niño weather pattern will likely emerge this summer and persist through the rest of the year. The hottest years on record generally occur in years when El Niño is active.
‘Songs from the Hole’: The story behind JJ’88’s documentary and visual album
The visual album and documentary Songs from the Hole tells the story of James Jacobs, the hip-hop artist JJ'88, as he reflects on his coming-of-age within California's state prison system.
Oil price surges as Iran steps up attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf
Markets seesawed on Day 13 of the war in the Middle East, as two oil tankers were struck by projectiles near Iraq's southern ports and attacks between Israel and Hezbollah intensified.
Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them
Utilities are convincing lawmakers around the U.S. to delay bills that would allow people to buy solar panels, plug them into an outlet and begin generating electricity.
Trump’s war with Iran is angering some swing voters who want money spent at home
Swing voters who helped reelect President Trump in 2024 don't support his decision to go to war in Iran and instead want to see U.S. tax dollars spent tackling economic pressures facing Americans.
